Regulatory Legislation and Practice on Life-threatening Industrial Activities in Georgia and their Compliance with European Human Rights Standards

The positive obligation to protect the right to life, as enshrined in Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR/the Convention), extends to industrial activities that pose a danger to human life. In addition to the obligation to establish regulatory legislation aimed at preventing or minimizing risks arising from industrial activities that pose a threat to human life, the state is also obliged to undertake preventive and operational measures within the sphere of such hazardous industrial activities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the compliance of the regulatory legislation and practice related to life-threatening industrial activities with European human rights standards. To achieve this, the article first reviews the European human rights standards concerning life-threatening industrial activities and defines the meaning and scope of the positive obligation to protect the right to life under Article 2 of the ECHR. It then examines the legislation and practice regulating life-threatening industrial activities in Georgia, analyzing their compliance with the relevant European standards. Several conclusions have been drawn based on this analysis. Specifically, the analysis of the legislation regulating life-threatening industrial activities in Georgia has shown that the applicable legal (normative) framework, overall, adequately complies with the standards established by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which require states to implement preventive measures to ensure occupational safety in the workplace. In addition, the analysis of Georgian legislation revealed the need to introduce further technical standards in the country. As for the practice of conducting life-threatening industrial activities in Georgia, a troubling situation regarding industrial accidents was identified, with the highest number of fatalities occurring in the construction sector in recent years. Due to the high number of workplace fatalities in Georgia, it is necessary to strengthen the activities of the Labour Inspection Service by increasing the resources available to the Service. In light of the above, it is essential to implement effective measures both to further improve the legislation regulating industrial activities and to ensure its full enforcement, including by enhancing the effectiveness of the Labour Inspection Service.